It hasn’t been a good couple of months for Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix. SanJose.com has reported extensively on the price hike fiasco, which culminated in
a rush of users to find alternatives and a subsequent stock decline. Starz announced that it was not renewing its contract with Netflix (goodbye, Disney and Sony pictures), and Los Gatos residents are complaining about the new complex it plans for a local business park.
Can it get any worse? It sure can. Today, Dish Network and Blockbuster is scheduled to make a major announcement, which it calls, “a stream come true.” Could it be that they are about to launch their own video streaming service?
It seems inevitable, with streaming becoming the wave of the future. The real question is can it succeed. Though there is a growing base of disgruntled Netflix customers to draw from, the Dish/Blockbuster venture will have to offer a quality catalogue at a competitive price. That means making the kind of deals with studios that have so far eluded Netflix.
If they do manage to pull off the impossible, the real winners will be the subscribers, who will be able to choose between two competing services. If it wants to stay in the game, Netflix will have to respond. That could mean lower prices again.
